Lucerne as a good base for out trips?

Why not stay in Lauterbrunnen? It is so beautiful and closer to Murren and Wengen and you would have that lovely scenery everyday to enjoy.

I'm with Jane, Stay in Lauterbrunnen and go see all the sites in the valley.

Switzerland is about it’s mountains and valleys. Stay in a mountain town in the Berner Oberland such as Murren, Wengen or Lauterbrunnen in the valley below for spectacular Swiss scenery.
To me, the Berner Oberland has more to offer than Zermatt ( unless you’re a mountain-climber) and you
can have it all in one location during your entire stay.

Distances on the map are deceiving as the mountains make travel slower and longer than the would seem. So a day trip from Luzern to Mürren, for example, takes multiple changes, and eats up a lot of time for a day trip. And since you go through Lauterbrunnen to get to Mürren or Wengen, you'd be backtracking a lot.

The poster above brings up a good point. Lucerne is actually 3 train hours from Lauterbrunnen. The capital, Bern. Is 90 train minutes away from Lauterbrunnen.
So, it makes no sense to base in Lucerne to visit the Berner Oberland.

You didn't say how many days you have allotted for Switzerland. Also, where are you headed after Switzerland? This makes a difference so you are not double backing your travels, especially because you mention Lucerne and Zermatt which are in opposite directions.

Here is what I am thinking now...we are going to be 4 days in Switzerland (coming from Florence or Milan and then headed to Fussen after Switzerland) with possibly not great weather (end of March, beginning of April)...so thinking Lucerne for day drips just in case weather goes very south and sticking in town may be a possible option (16 year old teenager, possibly not easy to get out hiking in the rain...just saying). So now looking at day trips from Lucerne and would love to get to some mountain villages, etc. Something adventurous if the weather is on our side!

With only 4 days I would suggest your base be Interlaken. From Interlaken it is a short trip to some mountain villages in the Berner Oberland area, such as Wengen, Murren. (40 minutes by train) From Interlaken it is only a 2 hour train to Lucerne if the weather is poor in the mountains or 1 hour to Bern. Both cities are good for exploring. While Interlaken is not in the mountains, it has plenty of lodging and places to eat, etc. Also, Interlaken is a good train hub.

At that time of year I would not be basing in the mountains. However, rather than be 2 hours away in Lucerne to get into the Alps, I would rather be 40 minutes in Interlaken. There is also the Lauterbrunnen Valley which is the same train route and only 20 minutes. The valley sits between Wengen and Murren. Beautiful valley with things to see and do as well.

For planning purposes, expect a 6-7 hour train trip from Interlaken to Fussen with as much as 3-4 changes depending on your train times. A trip from Milan will be about 6 hours to Interlaken and 8 from Florence. Enjoy your trip.

Milan to Interlaken is 3 hours.

We just returned from Switzerland and Austria. We did base camps in several place actually all that you listed. However, we stayed in Wilderswil instead of Murren or Wengen. I purchased a Swiss 1/2 Price card which costs $120. In Jungfrau area there are several regional passes to use. Depending what your seeing will make sense which one to buy. There are also Supersaver deals but this requires a smartphone, and the SBB app which is free. Regarding Luzern it a pretty town with 4 mountains to see. As for April it can be cold. Next year we will be traveling in June less tourist and better weather. Austria was less expensive just as pretty. We stayed out side of Innsbruck and there were many places to hike. Traveling to Italy is easy from Interlaken. Enjoy your Trip.